Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong | 22-04-2026
And so we start once more, this time with eight teams in the Topklasse. There are, of course a few other changes: the Player Points system will influence team selection (though probably not very much in practice, at least this year), and the European T20 Premier League is promised for later in the summer, although with the 50-over competition scheduled to conclude on 5 July it won’t be affected. There will again be no play-offs for the title, with the team at the top of the table after 14 rounds being declared the winner. There’s a good deal more guesswork than usual involved in this initial preview, since it’s not entirely clear who among the still numerous overseas contingents will arrive in time for the season’s opening encounters.
RL: Last year’s champions, Kampong Utrecht, start the defence of their title with a trip to Craeyenhout to take on HBS. With Lehan Botha back in the Crows’ ranks and Kent Goedeke replacing Jayden Rossouw, the South African component is still central to the plans at Craeyenhout, skipper Tayo Walbrugh, ex-international Wesley Barresi and current national squad member Kyle Klein all adding a hint of the braai to HBS’s fortunes. They will have their work cut out, though, against Alex Roy’s side, which will miss only Lane Berry from last year’s winning combination. That’s admittedly quite a gap in the top order, but with Lachlan Bangs returning and Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards available for much of the 50-over season, Kampong will still take some beating. The big question, perhaps, is whether Kampong’s attack will prove strong enough to restrict the Crows’ top order on what is frequently a runs-rich ground.
BdJ: The departure of last season’s lead wicket-taker Rossouw to Quick Haag is likely to mean there will be even more runs to be had at Craeyehout this time round, and the Crows will probably need early wickets from Klein or Botha if they’re to contain what remains an intimidating Kampong batting order. With Bangs and the ever-improving Jacod coming in as low as six and seven for the title-holders, simply looking to outscore them is a risky strategy.
RL: Runners-up VRA Amsterdam head even further south, travelling to the Zomercomplex to face the newly-renamed Rotterdam (né Punjab), who were themselves champions in 2024. The Rotterdam batting powerhouse of Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas and the brothers Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar have started in menacing form, Sikander smacking a 54-ball, not-out 126 against VOC in the final of the Rijnmond Cup a fortnight ago. Their opponents are something of an unknown quantity, with a further influx of Antipodeans to augment Dutch internationals Teja Nidamanuru, Vikram Singh and Shariz Ahmad, all of whom have plenty to play for as they try to re-establish their positions in the national side. There are more questions about the respective attacks: again, Rotterdam have a tried-and-tested combination, but with Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffel not reappearing VRA will need to find both a new new-ball pairing and an effective spin unit, which may include the returning Udit Nashier, hardy perennial Leon Turmaine, and Australian leggie Ivan Zmak.
BdJ: The rebranded Rotterdammers have certainly shown some impressive early form in pre-season, but it’s worth noting that VRA bested them fairly comfortably in Saturday’s warm-up fixture at the Bos. Vikram Singh and Johan Smal have looked in particularly fine form for the Amsterdammers, as has new arrival Sam Cassidy. It could well be a different outcome at the revamped Zomercomplex of course, and indeed the question of the make-up of VRA’s seam attack looms large, with much resting on the shoulders of Ashir Abid. Whoever takes the new ball for them will be happy not to have to bowl at Mohsin Riaz at least, Punjab’s stand out bat last season busy with commitments in Pakistan for now, but the Rotterdam batting card is plenty stacked without him.
RL: There have been many stirring contests between Voorburg and HCC in recent years, not least in the 2022 and 2023 grand finals (remember when we used to have grand finals?). Home side Voorburg will presumably be boosted by the return of Bas de Leede, whose spell at Durham has come to an end, and that will be significant compensation for the loss of De Leede’s fellow-international Viv Kingma, who has moved to VOC, and of young allrounder Udit Nashier, who has returned to VRA. So will the advent of promising youngster Aaditt Jain, whose path has crossed that of Kingma somewhere between the Hazelaarweg and Westvliet. We probably shouldn’t read too much into the ease of Voorburg’s victory in the final of last week’s Next Communications T20 Cup, but the Lions will need the returning Zac Worden to boost their largely home-grown top order if they are return to De Diepput with the points.
BdJ: De Leede, we understand, is likely to be used sparing if at all in the early season as he comes back from injury, but the addition of Jaynul Islam may go some way to compensate – Voorburg quick to snap up the recently-arrived Bangladeshi right arm seamer. Voorburg hardly lacked for pace options even before picking up Islam and Jain, though there’s a little less competition for slow-bowling spots at Westvliet now. One will certainly be taken by dual-international Michael Rippon when he lands back in the Netherlands, but the VCC bowling card does look a tad pace-heavy as it stands. The same is true of their opponents however, looking somewhat reliant on slow southpaw Clayton Floyd, whose ten overs could well prove crucial on Saturday.
RL: Ground constraints mean that the final match of the opening round will take place on Sunday, when Hermes-DVS will make the short trek to the Hazelaarweg to take on VOC Rotterdam. They will be facing a pace attack featuring the returning former international Ahsan Malik and his erstwhile international colleague Viv Kingma, who has stepped over from Voorburg, as well as the steadily-improving Roman Harhangi. The Bloodhounds will again be looking to a useful group of overseas players, including New Zealanders Caleb Montague and Ethan Price. Such resources have not been able to disguise the fragility of their batting in recent seasons, but the early-season form of Francois Fourie may hint at better prospects this time round. With the run-getting power of Daniel Doyle Calle and Ash Ostling reinforced by that of South African David Rushmere, the Sky Blues have the potential to test VOC’s new-look pace attack to the full, while an experienced, well-balanced attack will be looking to exploit any cracks in the home side’s top order.
BdJ: Word is Kingma’s role at VOC will be focused more on coaching this coming season, though we’re also told Pierce Fletcher may be playing a more prominent on-field part for the Bloodhounds this summer. Harhangi will be the principle purveyor of youthful zip with the new ball though, and will be crucial in VOC are to find inroads into Hermes’ reinforced batting order. Breaking the prolific Ostling-DDC partnership at the top now looks like a still-necessary but perhaps no-long-sufficient condition to containing Hermes, and with several key components of VOC’s new batting card boasting overseas pedigree but little Topklasse experience, the hosts may still be unsure of what a chaseable total looks like.
RL’s tips: HBS, Rotterdam, Voorburg, Hermes.
BdJ’s tips: Kampong, VRA, Voorburg, Hermes
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